STEETON shared a 1-1 draw on the road on Saturday in a physical encounter against Ashton Town.

Beginning the day with just one place and one point between them in the North West Counties Football League First Division North table, the Chevrons and Town both started the game brightly, before it petered out.

However, despite not taking all three points, Roy Mason was happy with the character his side showed on the afternoon.

In a fast and furious opening 10 minutes to the game, both sides created a number of chances and were rewarded with a goal apiece.

Steeton opened the scoring as the strikers linked up superbly.

Louis Fialdini took hold of possession and made a driving run up the sloping pitch at the Ashton backline.

Creating space out wide, he shifted the ball left to the feet of Arale Mohamed, who cut inside the centre half and fired inside the near post for his first goal of the season.

The lead however lasted only 90 seconds.

From the restart, the home side launched the ball down the slope.

The Chevvies backline could not deal with the aerial threat and that allowed Jordan Southworth to head the ball across the face of goal.

Sam Sheen’s run was not detected, and the midfielder slipped in to turn the header home from close range.

Ashton immediately pushed for a second goal to take the lead but were denied by a superb low diving save at the near post from James Catlow on his return from suspension.

The visitors also had a glorious chance to take the lead, but Fialdini could only turn an effort on the turn from close range over the crossbar.

The first half came to a close on the back of a bizarre incident.

Following a heavy challenge, Jez Milambo lost a shinpad.

In an attempt to delay a quick free kick, a member of the Ashton coaching staff hid the shinpad and brought a two-minute stop to the game as Steeton’s players and the referee searched for the missing piece of equipment.

The second half proved a more timid affair as both teams looked for a winner while trying not to lose the game at the same time.

Steeton had the first opportunity after the break as the Ashton keeper spilled a Luke Baldwin free kick.

Daniel Harrison recovered to take hold off the ball as Mohamed looked to turn the spill into the back of the net.

Mason introduced Josh Coe from the substitutes bench and the big man nearly made an immediate impact.

Meeting a Toby Jeffrey corner, his initial header went up in the air but Harrison in the goal beat Coe to the second ball to prevent his side conceding.

Steeton loaded up the box once more from a free kick on halfway, the ball pinging around the box before an Ashton defender managed to clear his lines.

The home side themselves created a couple of late chances as they looked to win the game.

George Eze found space inside the area but fired wide before Catlow made a good stop to deny Leon Wright from range.

The Chevrons afternoon ended with Josh McKiernon seeing a yellow card after he brought down a counter-attacking opponent, as he and his team-mates were forced to settle for a point.